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I love Shovel Knight. It is such a great game. So many other people love Shovel Knight too, because the titular character has managed to make his way to appearing in many other games, like Brawlhalla and Blaster Master Zero. His popularity was so great that he even managed to become an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

But what about the other characters in the game? After all, Shovel Knight was not the only character in his titular game. There was Shield Knight and the members of the Order of No Quarter, for example. Shovel Knight had been given expansions that focused on several members of said Order, which expanded on the main game's story.

Fighting each of the evil Order of No Quarter was fun, as every member was a knight with a gimmick. But what if you could just have all those knights fight each other? Well, now we can! With the game Shovel Knight Showdown, a fighting game based on the world of Shovel Knight! Let's take a look at the launch trailer!

Ooh, a giant snowplow to the dome would hurt.

It looks like there might ne some platforming elements to this game, maybe? I mean, stages in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had platforms to fight on.

It looks like we'll get a variety of battlefields to fight on. That's neat. I wonder if the battlefields will have their own gimmicks and traps like SSBU. I know, I'm doing quite a bit of SSBU mentioning, but I love that game so much.

Looks like ten characters all together. And they all have different colors. What I mean by "colors" is this: If two players of a fighting game pick the same characters to fight as, the sprites/models will be colored differently so the players can tell which character they play as. For example here, if two players pick Shovel Knight to fight as, player one would have the Knight in his traditional blue armor, but player two's Shovel Knight may have white armor.

It does look like this game can have up to four players. I'm hoping you can do tag teams.

Considering each of the Knights have a gimmick in the game, I an only imagine how fun it will be to try fighting as each knight. Every one plays differently, I hope.

This game looks like it will be a ton of fun! As I said, I loved Shovel Knight, so I would gladly give this game a shot! Hopefully, it's as fun as Smash Bros. is!

Like many a long-running video game franchises, Mortal Kombat has managed to make its way to other forms of media outside of video games, most notably the 1995 film (which is awesome) and its 1997 sequel (which...exists), as well as the upcoming reboot film coming next year.

Another medium that the franchise has touched is animation. The first Mortal Kombat animation was a direct-to-video prequel to the 1995 live-action film. In 1996, the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm was broadcast. It lasted only one season, and got panned by critics and franchise fans. It did introduce Quan Chi to the world, though. And now, in the year 2020, the franchise is returning to traditional animation, with the upcoming animated film focusing on Scorpion, one of the most popular characters in the franchise: Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge. Let's take a look!

It makes sense a film based on Mortal Kombat would be rated R. The fatalities and all that. But don't you worry. This trailer is green band, so if you're watching this at work (and shame on you if you are), you don't have to worry about any stuff like gore and language here.

I'm being reminded of the 1995 film already.

The characters look really cool.

Got to give Shang Tsung credit, man knows how to make an entrance. And that intro makes me want to punch some dudes!

I love that Sonya and Liu Kang just get more intense and Johnny Cage is just like, "Uhm...okay?"

Well, the film is called "Scorpion's Revenge".

Ooh, swordfighting.

HE SAID IT! HE SAID IT!

Ooh, that looked like it would hurt.

Here comes Raiden! And it looks like he picked up some tricks from his time meeting a certain Scarlet Speedster in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

Heh heh, Shining reference.

Oh, man. Goro looks awesome. You don't want to mess with that guy.

This trailer looked really cool. The only thing that concerns me about this trailer is that I'm getting the impression that this will come off as a rehash of the 1995 film as so much of this film reminds me of that one. I'm hoping this film lives up to the title, and we get to see Scorpion get his much-desired revenge.

Today is the last day of January!

Yeah, I know. Is surprises me, too. It seems like this month just raced on by faster than a Formula One car with a rocket engine strapped on to it...driven by Sonic the Hedgehog on speed.

I just want to say I hope all you readers of this had a good January. If you did not, hopefully February will be a better month for you.

Hello, and welcome back to the Vesryn Region! This is the fifth entry in my Text Play of Pokémon Zeta!

Before I go any further, muck like last time, I want to warn you all that I will be spoiling this game. If you want to play it for yourself, I recommend downloading the game at its wiki right here. And with that, let's go!

Last time, we decided to go up to the Pokéhadron Collider and clear out the little infestation of Team Olympus that went up and made itself a nice little home there. That's right, they're the bugs and we're going to be the exterminators. But first, there are a few things we have to take care of. One of those things is going to a certain house near the Fianga City Gym.

The owner makes his home here when he's not working at the Collider. He also shares his home with a couple of Voltorb and an Electrode. You're probably wondering why one of the Voltorb is blue. That's not a glitch or a coloring mistake, that's a shiny Voltorb.

Considering those two Pokémon's reputations for...well, exploding, I can imagine he has to be very careful where he steps, otherwise...

After treading very carefully in the house, I found an Ancient Tome. I think it's my third one so far. I think. As I said before, this game doesn't really tell me how many Ancient Tomes I own.

The only way I can enter the Collider is to go up north through Route 306. This route is a rather straightforward one, it just has a lot of Trainers on it. It's a neat route, you walk on a very long pier that connects a couple small islands.

There is a nice incentive, though. There are 10 Fishermen-class Trainers on this Route. If you defeat all ten, you can get a Good Rod. This is better than the Old Rod I got already, and I can catch some more Pokémon. All I've gotten so far with my Old Rod was Goldeen and Magikarp. I took on the Fishermen as it was a great way to level up Nepenthes and Volton, my Weepinbell and Luxio.

I got some inspiration and decided to use the Fisherman challenge to also level up my Pikachu and Ivysaur. After all, we might face off against a Water-themed gym in the future, so it helps to be prepared. Not to mention Pikachu and Ivysaur have been very helpful in the challenge.

With the Challenge complete, my Old Rod got upgraded into a Good Rod. Yay!

You can't really avoid all the Trainers when you go on this Route. You'll have to battle some of them to get through it. I recommend taking on all of them, as they can help grind up your Pokémon, and you'll get money for beating them, which you will need. More on that later.

After making your way through Route 306, you end up taking on Route 307.

Route 307 is a rainy route, with lots of tall grass. It kind of reminds me of the Midnight Mansion, only with no thunder. Remember that from the third entry of this Text Play?

Of course you all do! ...you all read these, right? Anyway, we go through the route, and there's not much to see, just lots of tall grass. But there are a couple places to plant berries.

If I plant berries here, do I still have to water them? I mean, this place is constantly raining, you'd think you wouldn't have to water them. Just something that puzzles me. Personally, I'd prefer being able to get Berry Pots, so you won't end up forgetting you planted some berries on some route patch and never going back to pick them.

I kept going forward through the route, and I fought a couple trainers. This route is a good place to grind up Pokémon. On the way through the Route, there was a little bit of a gathering.

I recognized Professor Oak. And N is with him, too. I wonder how they would get along. Considering N's views towards human-Pokémon relations, would he see Oak as an enemy? I mean, Oak does hand out Pokédexes to starting Trainers, so maybe Oak would be seen by N as an enabler of Pokémon capture? But then again it has been shown in the anime that Oak's got essentially a giant reserve that lets Pokémon run around and get exercise. I also have noticed that Cyrus is with them. Yeah, I bet they're unaware he's the main villain of the Diamond and Pearl games.

Also with him is Aria, the Pokémon League Champion. Hey, Mom! Yeah, Aria is our character's mother.

Anyway, they seem to be facing off against members of Team Olympus. And they have their leader with them. I think I remember seeing eyepatch guy before...oh, wait! I have! Back in the Onega Town Museum! He helped steal the Time Caller from there!

Thanks to Professor Oak, we learn that Eyepath Guy's name is Zeus. It's kind of appropriate that the head of a group called Team Olympus is named Zeus. King of the Greco-Roman gods, and all that. Oak claims that as long as Team Olympus doesn't have the Time Caller, their scheme at the Pokéhadron Collider will fail. Yeah, Oak? They have the Time Caller. I saw them steal it from the Onega Town Museum! You'd think they'd keep that thing under lock and key, and not publicly display it.

It also turns out that Aria was offered membership in Team Olympus years ago. Naturally, she turned it down. Can't blame her, really. Team Olympus ain't exactly nice folks. And I bet they have lousy benefits. Zeus demonstrates the power of the Time Caller.

He managed to summon Shaymin. N and Cyrus are furious. But Team Olympus vanishes. Oak is worried. The Time Caller is a very powerful device, and now that it's in Team Olympus's hands...there's not much hope for the entire world, much less the Vesryn region.

However, there may still be a chance.

The Legend Researcher in Superior Town has a book on the origins of the universe. There may be something there that can help. I have to go back to Superior Town to talk to the guy. They'll wait for my return. Cyrus also gives me TM17 (Protect). Thanks, man. I don't think I'll be using it, but thanks anyway.

So, you're all just going to wait out here for? In the rain? You guys aren't going to just go inside a building, stay dry and maybe enjoy some coffee, snacks, and pleasant conversation? Okay, then. Stay out here and get soaked. So we have to go back to Superior Town. You may be thinking, "Oh great, backtracking".

Luckily, we don't have to do that. Nope, the game takes us straight back to the Legend Researcher's home.

We find him studying a statue of a legendary Pick up your plant, man. It's bothering me. He claims that he needs to clean the place up. Just pick up your plant, man. It's not hard or time-consuming. Anyway, the book I'm asked to look at is on the table right next to the Researcher's NES.

"In the ancient void, there was nothing. Then, there was an egg. A golden egg, a powerful egg. Inside this egg, there was beast known as Arceus. Arceus, the original Pokémon. Arceus created the world as we know it, Time, Space and Antimatter, and created awe-inspiring beasts to guard them. Arceus created life to inhabit the world, and then sealed himself away in his own dimension. Before he did this, however, he created a Pokémon to-"

And that's it. That's literally it. The Researcher realized that Oak sent me...and Team Olympus got the Time Caller. He compares the power of a legendary Pokémon to the Unown I caught in entry . A legendary Pokémon is very powerful. Well, duh. The Time Caller does exactly what its name says: Summons things from the past and brings them to the present. Again, duh. You wouldn't call something a Time Caller if it was meant to just look pretty. The thing is, Shaymin is not the only legendary Pokémon out there. If Team Olympus can capture and command all of them...yeah, that's not good.

He mentions a man named Wilson that I had to visit in Fianga City. Aria mentioned him at the very beginning of this journey, too. Well, it turns out this "Wilson" is one of the lead scientists over at the Pokéhadron Collider. Team Olympus can use the Collider to summon a very powerful Pokémon. Funny, Zeus was able to summon Shaymin without the Collider. Why would he need the Collider?

The Researcher points out that after the world was created, Arceus fell into a deep sleep. It led the Researcher to ask a question: If Arceus created the world...who maintains it? The Researcher believes Arceus created another Pokémon to do that very job. A Pokémon that can travel through time and bend dimensions, one whose power rivals Arceus itself. The implication is that this possible Pokémon is what Team Olympus is after.

Maybe that's why Zeus needs the Collider. Yeah, legendary Pokémon are powerful, but I can imagine that Arceus (or at least a Pokémon near its significance) would be a whole new level power-wise.

Yeah, so maybe to catch this possible Pokémon, Zeus needs the Collider to somehow enhance the power of the Time Caller. At least, that's what I think. Anyway, I returned to Route 307. The game just takes me there, no taking the long track myself. That's very convenient. On the Route, Professor Oak is still waiting. In the rain.

Who knows where Aria, N and Cyrus ran off to. Maybe to get drunk, maybe they finally got some sense and went inside, I don't know. Anyway, he revealed that the Researcher had already called him and told him what I read. ...what? Wait, if he did that, then why did you have me go all the way back to Superior Town?!

Eh, I'll punch Oak later. Anyway, Aria went off to a place called Blackfist City, which is in an area called the Chrome Circle. The Chrome Circle is the giant circular island in the center of the Vesryn region. You know, I can imagine a place to cast magic spells in a Shadowrun game being called a Chrome Circle, ha ha. Anyway, Nyasa Town has been quarantined by Team Olympus. How'd they do that?! But then, a rumbling occurs, and Oak gets a little adult with his language.

Yeah, it was a surprise to me, too. But it turns out that Team Olympus has leveled Nyasa Town. They...they reduced the entire town to rubble. Everything's gone. My family's home, the local gas station/convenience store that made those great subs, the local library, the park with that awesome jungle gym and swing set...all gone. It's all just a big pile of rocks. And yes, like every other town we've come to before, Nyasa Town is named after a lake. Lake Nyasa is an African Great Lake. Nyasa is the Tanzanian name for the lake. It's called Lake Malawi in Malawi, and Lago Niassa in Mozambique. Pretty cool, huh?

There is one thing in the town that is still intact: the tunnel to the Pokehadron Collider. I wonder why it was put there in the first place. Maybe it was a way for employees of the Collider who lived in Nyasa Town to get there and back home quickly and safely? I mean, that would not be completely implausible. Route 307 is filled with grass patches, which means tons of wild Pokémon. I mean, I have Pokémon to protect myself on the route, but some workers may not be so lucky.

A word of warning. Be prepared before coming here. I'm serious. Be prepared. You see, once you enter this tunnel...you cannot go back until you clear out Team Olympus from this place. When you enter the cave, you head down a long tunnel. Nothing special here, just a tunnel. All it is. Just a tunnel.

Upon arrival inside the Collider, you will battle one of Team Olympus's commanders...named Thor.

No, not that Thor! Wait a minute, Thor? Why is a commander of Team Olympus named Thor?! Well, I think I can explain that. You see, in the grand Pokémon tradition, Pokémon Zeta is one half of a pair of Pokémon fangames, the other being called Pokémon Omicron. That was the version Linkara did a Let's Play of that helped inspire this Text Play.

In Omicron, the enemy team is called Team Asgard. Anyone who's watched a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie knows that Thor is Asgardian. Yeah, the character you're supposed to be fighting in Zeta is a woman called Apollo who uses Fire-type Pokémon. Why does Apollo use Fire-types? Because in Greco-Roman mythology, Apollo is the god of the sun. Also music and medicine. Pretty cool, huh? Yup, the programmers goofed.

Ah, well. Thor, befitting his designation (Thor in Norse myth is the god of thunder), uses Electric-type Pokémon, mainly Elekid and Luxio. He also has a Carvanha, a Water/Dark-type Pokémon. They are no joke. His Pokémon seem easy to counter. After all, just sic some Ground-types on the Elekid and Luxio and an Electric or Grass-type against the Carvanha, right? Well...not exactly. You see, his Pokémon all know Ice-type attacks. His Elekid knows Ice Punch, and his Luxio and Carvanha all know Ice Fang. Ice is very good against Ground-type Pokémon. I believe Ice also is good against Grass, so Carvanha's teeth will be very dangerous for my Weepinbell.

When it comes to Ground-types...I don't have a lot of options. I have a Diglett, Geodude, Rhyhorn, Onix, and a Cubone. I don't think I can use Onix or Rhyhorn, because they don't learn a lot of Ground-type moves on their own. At least, at a level I can still control them at. My Gible is part-Ground, so I can keep it on my team. I think I'll switch out my Horsea for Cubone (Horsea's Water, so it will get slaughtered by Thor), and I'll think I'll keep Magmar on my team as well. Magmar is a Fire-type, so Elekid and Luxio's Ice attacks won't do a lot of good against it.

In the end, I decided to swap out Weepinbell and Horsea for Geodude and Diglett. I kept Magmar as a ounter for Luxio and Elekid's Ice-type attacks, and I also kept Gible because Gible is part-Ground. It also knows a Ground-type move: Sand Tomb. Sand Tomb can trap a target in a sandstorm for 4-5 turns. Geodude and Diglett can learn Magnitude early on, so they can potentially do some real damage. Yup, I'm preparing some nasty little surprises for Thor.

All I have to do is some grinding. And I think that's where we'll stop or now. I have to get prepared to make Thor eat his own thunder! Wish me luck!

Pokémon Obtained

(Route 307)

- Nidoran (Male)

- Oddish

- Chatot

- Deerling

- Burmy

- Nidoran (Female)

- Remoraid (Caught with Good Rod)

Growing up can be tough. Shedding the innocence of childhood and getting ready to join the world of adults can be a daunting experience. Sometimes, you just want to get your mind off things for a little while. One way to do that is to hit the local arcade and play some games. For the teenager called "Kid", the lines between the world of video games and reality are about to blur. This is 198X. Let's take a look at the launch trailer!

*relaxing retrowave music*

I like the look of this beat-'em-up...wait, it's not just a beat-'em-up?

Hey cool, a shoot-'em-up! I love shoot-'em-ups! I have R-Type Dimensions on my Nintendo Switch, and it's so much fun...wait, it's not just a shoot-'em-up? 

Hey, looks like Outrun there! I have this Outrun-esque game on my 3DS called 80s Overdrive. It's...alright. It could have been better. Wait, it's not just a racing game?

It's also not just a ninja game? ...that makes me want to go grab my Switch and play The Messenger again.

It's not just an RPG, either? What kind of game is this? Although that dragon-dying animation is pretty cool...

Ohhh, I see! You're a kid playing games in an arcade! Although an RPG would be rather odd to have in an arcade, considering the very nature of role-playing games and all... There are arcade games with RPG elements out there, like Knights of the Round, but an full-on role-playing game? Yeah, that would be odd to see in an arcade.

"Over-the-top arcade action meets coming-of-age story". So, kind of like Scott Pilgrim, except and actual video game.

198X. Because we don't want to pin down the year.

Uh, you got a ninja on your telephone pole there.

Hey, is that a spaceship in the sky?

Well, this looks interesting. I'm a sucker for 80s stuff, so I may give this a shot. I'm actually quite fascinated how the arcade games will be incorporated. I hope there's a demo!